Wednesday 8 June 2016 23:01, UK
Fabio Aru stunned the sprinters by winning solo on stage three of the Criterium du Dauphine as Alberto Contador survived a late scare to retain the overall lead.
Aru (Astana) moved into a solo lead with an acceleration about 15km from the flat finish in Tournon-sur-Rhone and held off the chasing sprint teams to win by two seconds.
Contador (Tinkoff) had to stop with about 4km left due to a mechanical problem, but he quickly swapped bikes with team-mate Roman Kreuziger and rejoined the peloton just over a kilometre later, eventually finishing safely in the bunch in 39th.
The result means Contador remains six seconds ahead of second-placed Richie Porte (BMC Racing) and 13 seconds in front of third-placed Chris Froome (Team Sky) at the top of the general classification.
Contador said: "I had a mechanical at the bad moment. My back wheel broke. I wanted to continue like this but I couldn't.
"Luckily a team-mate gave me his bike. It wasn't my size but there were only four kilometers remaining and I quickly made my way back to the bunch. I didn't panic because I'm way less stressed at this race than I am at grand tours."
Despite his victory, Aru is still 1min 15sec adrift of Contador in 27th place overall, having sustained heavy time losses in both the prologue and on stage two.
Aru, who is a climbing specialist and one of the favourites for next month's Tour de France, said: "After I went solo, I only thought of pushing at the maximum. I never thought I would win this way.
"The Tour de France is the main goal of my season. I'm looking at preparing it the best I can. The Dauphine is very important in that perspective. I'm very happy."
The eight-day Dauphine continues on Thursday with a 176km fourth stage from Tain l'Hermitage to Belley. Find out more about the route in our race guide.
Stage three result
1 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, 4:19:54
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, +2sec
3 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, same time
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step, st
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data, st
6 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18, st
7 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge, st
8 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, st
9 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, st
10 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr, st
General classification
1 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff, 13:13:10
